here's one thing
that makes me mad:
Poverty,
and a mother too busy
to keep an eye on her kids
'cause she's working
two jobs
to keep us fed.
That's reason enough,
ain't it?"
In this companion book to Bronx Masquerade (2003), a new group of students have joined Mr. Ward's poetry class. They are culturally diverse, and share many of the same worries that other teenagers face. Darrian Lopez is hoping for a career in journalism, and provides poetry and narration as he listens to their stories and gets to know them better. His astute headlines catch the reader's eye and provide insight into their lives, their families, their fears and their achievements.
Mr. Ward is the teacher I would want to be if I were teaching high school. He encourages, guides, gives reason to the art of poetry, and allows time to reflect on and respond to meaningful prompts. He provides a goal - a poetry slam. As the student poets learn about each other, and become more comfortable with penning their thoughts and feelings, the reader also begins to know their stories.
We meet, and return to each poet in short, first person chapters that combine prose and poetry ... they are an admirable company of eight artists. Memorable and emotional, you will not soon forget them. Stories of foster care, anger, family dysfunction, death, alcoholism, and being overprotected are there to consider. It is easy to forget that one person writes in these eight voices, and gets each one so right.
Difficult to read at times, but always with a sense of hopefulness as they express themselves through poetry, this is a fine book to read in a classroom setting as April is National Poetry Month. Nikki Grimes once again shows readers why she is so deserving of the 2017 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her “substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. Her love for poetry and the impact it has on literacy is commendable and we are better for having shared it.
An author's note focuses on Jenesis, a foster child about to age out of the system. Ms. Grimes has personal experience.
"I spent several years in the foster care system when I was young, and as a result, I am especially sensitive to the incredible challenges experienced by teens who age out of the foster care system after their eighteenth birthday. I was fortunate. I didn't end up on the streets, as so many former foster kids do ... "
"Tick tock. Tick tock.
Eighteen is the clock
my life is set to.
On that day,
my social worker will say,
"Jenesis, it's time.
No more foster home
for you.
Get your books stacked,
get your clothes packed.
Don't dawdle. Don't stop."
So what if I've got
nowhere else to go?"
Readers will go back and read these poems again. I know that I did.
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